News & Blog

Register here

Name *

Phone *

Email Address *

Reserve your spot

DPC Member - $10ONA Member - $10Non-member - $15

Verification

Please enter any two digitsExample: 12

This box is for spam protection - please leave it blank

He’s part of the new breed – journalist, author, ad man and millennial. Come hear what Aaron Foley has to say about communicating in varied formats and read from his new book, “How to Live in Detroit Without Being a Jackass.”

Sponsored by the Online News Association and the Detroit Press Club. Join us at the Marble Bar, one of the hottest new clubs around, situated in the shadow of Henry Ford Hospital. Constructed of reclaimed materials from Detroit landmarks and owned by a millennial.

Share this:

Join Fifth Estate founder and independent film producer, Harvey Ovshinsky and long-time staff member and WRIF radio show host, Peter Werbe, as they discuss the impact of alternative news on reporting and what media of the future can offer. We join an exhibit, “Start the Presses: 50 Years of the Fifth Estate” at the Detroit Historical Museum.

When a Mumford High School kid got fed up with lopsided coverage of the Vietnam War and social justice issues he founded his own newspaper, as the voice of dissent and resistance. Through five decades, the Fifth Estate has served as an outlet for countercultural ideas and statements. It led the way to new journalism with personal and passionate style. It also boosted the careers of numerous reporters and brought sassy, unconventional story telling to all the local news outlets.

6 pm on Wednesday, October 21

Detroit Historical Museum
5401 Woodward Ave
Detroit, MI 48202

$20 admission for Members
$25 admission for Non-Members
Includes pizza, salad and drink

Share this:

M. L. Elrick, investigative reporter for Fox News TV 2 answered questions for nearly an hour on a warm summer night in late May, fielding queries about everything from winning a Pulitzer Prize to hanging in a news truck waiting for a worthy picture to illustrate a story.

When emcee David Versical, director of news operations for Automotive News, asked Elrick the difference between print and television, he said, “finding the right picture.” When the cameras captured an investigative reporter roughed up by Kwame Kilpatrick, it was the beginning of the end for the former mayow – worth more than a thousand words.

But three weeks parked outside a news source’s home in what he called a “watch dog exercise” was necessary to tell a tale that could be captured in a couple hours in print. Elrick labors on, looking to expose political wheeling and dealing among the highest ranks of Michigan politics. With co-reporter Jim Schaefer, he won a Pulitzer Prize for investigative journalism in 2008.

He is shopping the New York agents and publishers for his book, “The Last King of Detroit: Sex, Texts, Lies and the Betrayal of a Great American City.” “The publishers have this bias against the Midwest. They can’t see how people will read a story about a Detroit mayor. Hey, Detroit is always in the news.”

Elrick started his career at the State News, Michigan State University’s daily paper, where he met his wife Tresa Baldas, now an investigative reporter for the Detroit Free Press. He graduated from MSU in 1990. His first job was at the Concord (N.H.) Monitor, where he investigated a public official named Swindlehurt. The couple moved to Illinois, Ireland, France and Chicago, coming back to Detroit in 1999 where he began to set the town on fire with ground-breaking investigations.

Is this a good time to be a journalist in Detroit covering the city? Elrick recently told Metro Times, “Given that it’s a time when they’re laying people off and cutting salaries, I’d say there are better times. This has always been one of the best news towns in America. You could build a silver and gold city on the news here.”

He is building his career anew at Fox TV-2, having jumped ship in 2012 for a new, creative outlet. He suggests reporters watch Mike Duggan, the current mayor of Detroit, closely because he and Kilpatrick have the same political DNA, having been tutored by the Wayne County Executive Ed McNamara. See this story for more details: http://www.myfoxdetroit.com/story/23847179/kilpatrick-ghosts-follow-detroits-mayoral-candidates

Elrick plans to do more investigations, particularly Detroit councilman George Cushingberry, and more publisher shopping on the side. In the meantime, he signed copies of the book of quotes he and Schaefer wrote about Kilpatrick’s shenanigans, “Kwame Sutra.” We thank Jim Parks of Crain Communications for sponsoring Elrick’s talk at Bookie’s Bar & Grille and the Millershin Group for all its promotional assistance.

When asked why he uses “M.L.” instead of Mike or Michael he says, “there is a long story behind that, but the late city councilwoman Brenda Scott told me, just tell people it’s cooler, so we’ll just go with that.”

Share this:

Reinventing one of the most popular events of the Detroit
Press Club we’re hosting a party at the Anchor Bar on St.
Patrick’s Day from 6:30 – 10 p.m. Come hear Allan Nahajewski
and the Free Press Bulldogs play rock and roll, join A. J. O’Neal
for a Danny Boy singing contest and trade Irish jokes with
Maureen McDonald. (Download flyer here)

Categories

About Us

We will offer social and professional network venues where we can meet up and discuss topics. We will provide networking venues, newsmaker events, award competitions for professionals and students and other resources as the group evolves. Learn more